cathedral become a reality.

Hunter Valley Training Company chairman and

former Maitland MP Milton Morris has offered to head up a fundraising committee to raise $100,000 towards the cost of the restoration as well as acting as a go-between between politicians and the church in helping secure the money.

Mr Morris also wants to make available the skills of HVTC's apprentice stonemasons to help do the work.

When $1 million can be spent on hosting a breakfast on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the $100,000 price tag to make safe and breathe life back into Maitland's old cathedral is not a lot of money.

And what a worthwhile and rewarding experience it would be for young stonemasons to work on such a

significant restoration project.

There is a push by government for businesses to employ more apprentices to help overcome the skills shortage. What a positive story would emanate from this project if young apprentices could be trained in the dying craft of stonemasonry, and their new-found skills utilised on the preservation of such an historically and socially important building as Maitland's cathedral.

Maitland prides itself on its history – and so it should.

It is something that differentiates Maitland from the myriad of satellite cities that are hanging off the coat tails of other major urban settlements.

It is a major tourist drawcard; socially, the city's

history is something of which we all should be proud. Here's a opportunity to do more than pay lip service to that.

The restoration of the Cathedral is a project the whole Maitland community – Catholics, non-Catholics and non-believers alike – should get behind.

We, as a community, cannot afford to let this golden opportunity slip through our fingers.